Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

[Boregard]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

MULTI-USER ONLY!!!

Minimum 4 guys, preferably between 8 and 16!

1. No trading with the CPU or

2. "points system" which takes into account position "importance" (OL is docked substantial points when being traded to CPU), AGE (players being traded to CPU teams are "devalued" within our points system for every year older than 28), SPEED (players traded from the CPU at "skill positions" are given higher trade value for every point above 91 speed, example - 2 CBs on the CPU team are both 25 years old, both 86 OVR, but CB 1 is 96 speed and CB 2 is 91 speed, that is a differance of 1000 points in our system or 200 "points" for every point of higher speed rating)! Draft picks are valued using an unbalanced modification of the draft pick value chart developed by Jimmy Johnson. The CPU is given + 500 to every draft pick value. All trades must fit within the "points sytem" and be acceptable to the CPU logic!

3. Trades between HUM controlled teams - must be approved by the "Co-Commisioners", or voted on by all players - depending on how many HUM teams are participating.

4. FREE AGENCY - we use a draft style system in FA to allow the lower teams among the human teams a better chance at closing the gap. FA is 3 rds of worst to first picking FA and trying to sign them to contracts. Then we "sim" 5 days for the CPU to sign players, then the worst team (HUM) gets ti "fill" his roster, followed by the second worst team etc etc...

5. Various rules voted on regarding player edit, contract negotiation, self imposed salary cap restrictions, etc etc...

[cannabizzle]

the way i do it...
control all 32 teams
tweek the rosters to match the nfl as close as possible
play all the games as the home team ( every team, every game)
let the cpu draft and sign free agents after season
rename top rookies to match top college players expected to be drafted

may be overboard but i have alot of fun with it

[sois]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

I usually strip my roster to bare minimum (2 QB, 2 TE... etc) since injuries don't happen. I then make a few FA signings to improve the Bengals D.

I play on MySkill and it keeps things interesting from a W-L standpoint.

[Pasdabru]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

Normally start one with a bad team and try to rebuild until the opening day rosters come out and then alternate between the rebuilding project and my Cowboys.

However:

I always want to do a franchise, but everytime i see a team play on tv or player has a good week and jump ship and start a new one. How do you guys keep the 'chise fresh.

I have this same problem, I'll start one with some team I just watched spend a whole bunch of time tweaking the teams roster then end up deleting a few days later... Think I have franchise attention deficit disorder.

[O-Zoan]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

I typically start my franchise with my favorite team (this case being the Giants for Madden), play through several seasons, then move to a team that has a bad record and try and build them up into a Super Bowl contender.

I do the same except its getting annoying now since even with ****ty teams I do good from the start on all-pro and all-madden sucks *** cuz the comp just cheats.

[Tre74]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

I always want to do a franchise, but everytime i see a team play on tv or player has a good week and jump ship and start a new one. How do you guys keep the 'chise fresh.

lol i thought i was the only one who did this. im not alone

[Starbase503]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

Like a few others here, I control all 32 teams. I am more about creating history and continuity than taking over one team, which I already have to do in MLB:The Show (and had to in MVP as well).

That way, I can play the more compelling games. I almost always play my 'Boys, but at least I am not limited to just Dallas games, when potential barn-burners and ratings busters like Eagles-Giants, Jets-Pats or Colts-Jags comes along. And every once in a while I like to drop in on a battle of also-rans, when they are evenly matched, like 49er-Raiders or Lions-Browns.

And how I play or IF I play depends on a lot of things, but most of all TIME. Employed, married with children leaves precious little time for stuff like this, plus I also have baseball and college football seasons in full swing. But often I will take a week's slate and "Supersim" them through the first three quarters. I can then jump in and take over a team for the fourth. Doing this 14-16 times a week keeps things fresh, since I am a different team every time, and the week can be played fairly quickly this way, allowing me to keep current in the other sports and still fulfill my husbandly/fatherly duties.

[Vikes1]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

I start my Vikings franchise...and away I go.

I make a few trades or Free agent pick ups, but mostly try to keep the roster as accurate as possible. I hope to get 10-12 seasons in before next years game.

[salbowski]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

i attempt (over several years) to get a really young team together (no one over 30 usually) with an empathsis on speed. achieved via draft (difficult due to low draft ratings other than qb, cb and s) and trades.

wud love to try that on madden 09 but mine always breaks in season 3 so there's not much point right now.... bring on the patch baby!!!!!!!

[Tweeg]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

I always run three franchises. One is with the Browns that I typically run for 4-5 seasons. Another is a fantasy draft with one of my friends that can go around 9 seasons sometimes. Lastly, me and two of my friends love to create an entire team of players and play co-op for as long as possible.

[rickywal]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

Always run my Bucs Franchise. Keep the original roster in the first year (though do some work on the depth chart with a youth policy). Then churn and burn. I train players every week to help their progress.
I only ever sign free agents for depth or to start in a position of need, never to trade. I try address my needs in the draft though.
I signed a good MLB after the first season and moved him to ROLB to replace the retired Brooks... but thanks to EAs bugs he won't progress cause I changed his position... So I'm not finishing my second season until the patch comes out... such a long wait...

[homeycool]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

My friend and I start a franchise on release night every year. First we pick two teams that are in the same division, so we can play each other twice a season, then on to the fantasy draft. (This makes our franchise very unique and than watching NFL on Sundays) I also do a 49er franchise on my own every year. I wait until opening day roster update to start it though.

For the fantasy draft this year we decided to let the computer pick every single player for our team except for our first overall pick. The only catch was it had to be a sophomore player rated 89 or lower. So I picked Gaines Adams and Cory (my friend) picked Darrelle Revis. The reason we decided to do this was to make building a team somewhat of a challenge. In the past we would always pick young and fast players with alot of potential, and within a few years we had the best teams in the league. This process makes our teams very unique, but also causes us to focus on building the teams to our liking, through the draft and free agency.

This year I am the Giants and Cory is the Cowboys. This is the only division that we have played with all four teams now. I'll take you back.

2002 - Falcons (me) Panthers (Cory)
2003 - Redskins (me) Eagles (Cory)
2003(Accidently deleted the 1st franchise after 2 seasons) - Bengals (me) Steelers (Cory)
2004 - Bills (I relocated to Boston to be the Bobcats) Jets (Cory)
2005 - Broncos (me) Chargers (Cory)
2006 - Bears (me) Lions (Cory)
2007 - Titans (me) Jaguars (Cory)
2007(Franchise froze after 9 seasons) - 49ers (me) Cardinals (Cory)

After the fantasy draft we play a preseason game or two to learn the new game. Then we jump right into our season. We play 14 of the 16 games (we sim 1 game against each cpu controlled divisional team)

We do have house rules to make it more challenging, such as... No trading with the computer unless the player is on the trade block that you are trading for. You can only trade for draft picks in the offseason and you must use the NFL trade value chart. When offering contracts you cannot give a player less than what he is asking for, nor can you extend the years on the contract. (So not to abuse the salary cap) We use 4 ncaa draft classes and then go into using simulated madden draft classes. We have to use the playbooks of our offensive and defensive coordinators. (If we don't like our playbooks we have to fire our coaches) For sliders we edit them together so that we keep each other in check. We only edit once or twice a season if needed. We play to have a challenge. I don’t mind not making the playoffs every year, in fact in Madden ’08 I didn’t win a single Superbowl. (First time that had happened, I lost the only one I made it too) One other thing that I am quite proud of is that in more than 80 seasons of madden football; neither of us has ever gone undefeated. Quite a few close calls but we always seem to come up short.

We usually play more than 12 seasons per franchise. The longest we ever got into it, was in our Bronco/Charger franchise in 2005 (Madden '06). We played it through 16 seasons. By the time we were done we had hardly any real NFL players left.

One awesome story from this franchise... After my second season I traded all of my draft picks and Willis McGhee for the #1 overall pick so that I could select, little known at the time, Adrian Peterson. This was after he came in 2nd in the Heisman voting in his freshman year and was rated like a stud in NCAA '06. In the very first game of the season I broke the single game rushing record by gaining 302 yards. In the final minutes of the game, I was running out the clock and he tore his ACL and was out for the season! He did go on to break Emmitt Smith's all time rushing record after 13 or 14 season though. So there you have it, I envisioned ADP's success very early on. (I have had him in every franchise since, except for this year because of our new fantasy draft strategy)

I hope all of you enjoy franchise mode as much as myself and my friend have.

[Jono078]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

100% sim all the way

[jayrainmusic]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

i usually do a chise with the dolphins getting rid of all the dead weight, it was funny because all the guys i traded away in 08 parcells cut, that was awesome, and of course i use ncaa for my college recruits, i used to be a junkie but maddens gameplay has become so bad lately with all the bugs and glitches i'm starting to phase it out

Are you serious? This years madden is prolly the best one ever created.EA creates patches that eliminates most problems that consumers find.If you dont have madden 09 you need to get it.The best way to franchise is wait til week 1 or 2 of the season so rosters can be up to date.Import draft classes but make sure you find draft classes that are realistic,not these guys who have Tim Tebow coming in the league as a 90 +.

[SharksInShades]

Re: Madden 09: How will you Franchise?

I'll read this through and it may have been tried, but these methods keep the franchise very fresh and re-playable.

#1
I get the game, take on the Cowboys, adjust the roster as needed, and kick off. Lower difficulty so I can get a feel (my first time on next gen), rack up lots of yards and points, stuff my trophy case, go 19-0 and play the Superbowl (shut out the Colts with a run first, keep away offense). This satisfies my bloodlust for wanting the Cowboys to be invincible, which is sadly only true in video game format. Then I go to the offseason, load up a fast forwarded NCAA draft class, draft T.O.'s replacement, and up the difficulty with a better team and 19 games of practice. I'm in game 3... narrowly undefeated still. I'll go like this until I get bored.

#2
Once I'm bored with Madden or frustrated with freezing, I'll go to NCAA (started up my dynasty on Wed.). University of Tennessee. I'll burn through those games at 4 min qtrs and get robbed of awards and Heismans because I don't put up enough stats. That's ok, it's the recruiting and rings I'm doing it for anyway. Oh, and the draft classes. I don't usually switch off of Tennessee on NCAA, so the top of the draft will be very orange after about 3 years and stay that way as long as I can stand it. NCAA has tremendous long term appeal because the rosters turn over so fast.

#3
College season is over and Tennessee is 8-4 again and is 50/50 a bowl winner. Disappointed at what might have been and armed with nearly a decade of NFL draft classes, I go back to Madden. The NFL is nearing the playoffs, so roster updates are plentiful and I know who's a star and who got old fast (and who got hurt in Week 1 and starts on IR... Tom). Start over with Dallas from scratch and scratch out the season that is (if they are good) or the season that should have been (if they crashed and burned). This will go for 3 seasons until the team is a champion and highly rated at all positions and in good cap shape. Then I take the lowest ranked team (has to be top 3 of the draft). Then I rebuild, usually with my Tennessee players. After 3 years (sometimes 4), I get back to that champion super-team of young stars, I drop back to the bottom and rebuild. I try to switch it up between AFC and NFC and keep from playing in my super teams' divisions. I've played with all 32 teams easily since I started this a couple years back.

Optional
I also love to play co-op with a friend of mine that introduced me to the first Madden in the last century. The lack of a co-op mode in '07 is what delayed my joining of the next gen console owners. After we play 3 seasons with me at QB, we switch to him at QB and me blocking (SO MUCH FUN!). Then we'll switch back. Playing all the time and not being in control sometimes sucks, so then we play offense/defense where play a one-player game, and hand over the controller for offense or defense (kickoffs and returns are defense, punts and returns are offense). This is great fun, because you can sit back and watch and criticize, then it's your turn. Great for a team that needs to develop one side of the ball (Ravens) because you get that real life sniping that goes on in the locker room ("you can't score 14 lousy points with a rookie QB and new tackle??? Do I have to score TD's too??").

All of these are ways to keep it fresh until the April Draft which stokes the fire again, and then its back to NCAA to create all new draft classes without favoring Tennessee and do it all over again. Hope this gives some of you an idea you didn't have before. Game on!